Journal

Thursday, March 13, 2003
I know that you said that the Archives problems had been fixed, but the link for May, 2002 still takes one to June, 2002. The link for July, 2002 still takes one to August, 2002, and there is still no way to find May or July other than fiddling with the URL (which I'm happy to do, but what about those that don't think of that option?).

Thanks so much for your work, both on screen and in books, graphic and otherwise. I try to introduce as many friends as I can to your writing, not only b/c I think it will enrich their lives, but also b/c I'm tired of beginning sentences with "Well, Neil says," and getting blank stares (or, in the case of my girlfriend, that look that says, "I love him, even if he's being brainwashed by the internet.") in return.
Thanks again,
jeff
btw, I also sent the Archives thingie to Julia the Webmistress


The problem seems to be that while we can fix it as much as we like, it only stays fixed until the next time I post something, at which point it just reverts to its natural entropic not actually working sort of state.

Our web people (ie Julia and the authors on the web gang) think that the problem is at Blogger's end, and when I last heard they had an ambitious plan involving getting someone from Blogger on the phone to actually help sort it out.

...

I used to love Alistair Cooke's Letters From America. The last one baffled me enough when I heard it on the Radio 4 live feed that I went to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/2839739.stm and read it. In the old days he'd circle a topic, apparently change the subject, then dive back to the subject he started on, often illuminating both subjects. These days it seems like he just picks a place to start and talks until the time is up.

Anyway, reading the new one, which begins with the United Nations, nips over to Philip Larkin and closes with Mr Rogers, the penny sort of dropped for me: Cooke's talks have become more or less the equivalent of blogger entries -- this is what I'm thinking of, reading, wanted to tell you, am reminded of.... And as such they don't actually have to go anywhere. He's old, wise, articulate, and almost never dull.